Perspective on War, now and in the future.

Some people are probably going to write me off for this post, but when Leon Panetta quoted this … you shall know the truth and the truth shall make your free… in his talk after being officially nominated to head the CIA, I decided that I had to write my version.

The situation in Gaza is horrendous, and we are reminded of it again and again. That is what television news does best… it show you things so graphically that the image becomes the story. We see the loss of life. We see the loss of children, a loss of so much potential, and we are horrified. Or maybe they are horrified by the show of rockets fired at Israel. But it galvanizes many to action.

So far, around 800 have died and every one is a loss. But I want you all to consider this.

There is a 90% chance that 3 billion people will have to choose between going hungry and moving their families to milder climes because of climate change within 100 years, says new research.

3 billion people is about 45% of the world's population. That massive a dislocation can not be absorbed in any manner. Consider the news we have gotten about Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe and the outbreaks of cholera. That is still going on, only no longer on television so we forget. But that will be the reality for maybe a third of the this planet.

I ask you to read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It is perhaps the most bleak book I have ever read. But that also could be our reality.

Compared to this, why does Israel and the Palestinians waste so much time, energy, effort fighting a war that in this history of this planet is basically meaningless? There is no answer to that.